Connect with Alan Grayson

Tired of shutdown battles? This bill would end them for good.

Tired of fretting about government shutdowns? Budget lapses would be a thing of the past under a new proposal from a House Democrat who wants to put an end to them for good.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) said this week that he is seeking co-sponsors for a “Shut Down the Shutdowns Act” that would automatically extend existing appropriations levels for another fiscal year whenever Congress fails to fund agencies before their money expires.

“It changes the default from shutdown to the same budget,” Grayson said during an interview with The Post on Tuesday. “I don’t think the founders ever intended us to face one shutdown after another.”

Both parties have tried in the past to use shutdowns and shutdown warnings as leverage to win concessions on hot-button issues ranging from spending to abortion. But Republicans have led the most recent efforts, which occurred during the Clinton and Obama administrations.

This year, conservative lawmakers threatened to allow Department of Homeland Security funding to lapse unless President Obama approved legislation to roll back his recent plans for shielding millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation. Neither side was initially willing to budge.